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Every song you release is actually two separate copyrights: the composition (the lyrics and melody you wrote) and the sound recording (the master you recorded and uploaded). Music publishing is the business of earning money from the composition. Most independent artists collect their recording royalties through a distributor but never collect their publishing royalties at all, which leaves real money sitting uncollected. This guide explains how publishing works and how to claim everything you are owed.
The two copyrights in every song
| Composition | Sound recording | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The song itself: lyrics + melody | The specific recording (the master) |
| Who owns it | The songwriter(s) and their publisher | The artist or label that funded the recording |
| Who collects the money | PROs, mechanical societies, a publishing administrator | Your distributor |
Your distributor only handles the recording side. The composition side is publishing, and it has its own separate collection system that you have to opt into yourself.
The four types of publishing royalty
- Performance royalties: earned when your song is performed publicly — on radio, in venues, on TV, and as the "public performance" share of a stream. Collected by Performing Rights Organizations (PROs).
- Mechanical royalties: earned when your song is reproduced — downloads, physical copies, and the reproduction share of every stream. Collected by mechanical societies.
- Sync royalties: earned when your song is licensed into film, TV, ads, or games. See our sync licensing guide.
- Print royalties: earned from sheet music. Minor for most modern artists.
The key thing to understand: every stream generates both a performance royalty and a mechanical royalty on the publishing side, on top of the recording royalty your distributor pays you.
Who's who in publishing
- Songwriter / composer: you, if you wrote the song.
- Publisher: the entity that administers the composition. If you have no publisher, you are effectively your own.
- PRO: collects performance royalties (ASCAP, BMI, PRS, SACEM, IPRS, and others).
- Mechanical collector: collects mechanical royalties (The MLC in the US, MCPS in the UK, and various societies elsewhere).
- Publishing administrator: an optional service that registers your works everywhere and collects globally for a percentage.
How to actually collect your publishing money
There are three practical steps, and you can do all of them as an independent artist:
- 1. Register with a PRO in your country to collect performance royalties. See how to register with a PRO.
- 2. Make sure your mechanicals are collected — in the US, join The MLC for digital mechanicals.
- 3. Decide whether you need a publishing administrator to collect worldwide automatically. See do you need a music publisher?
The India picture
In India, compositions are administered by IPRS (the Indian Performing Right Society), which collects both the performance and mechanical share for songs on behalf of authors, composers, and publishers. Performers have a separate body (ISRA), and public performance of sound recordings is handled separately too. For the full Indian walkthrough, read how to collect your publishing royalties in India, and remember royalties are taxable — see tax on music royalties.
Start here
If you only do one thing today, register with your country's PRO so your performance royalties start accruing. Then read the cluster guides above. Publishing is the income stream most independent artists ignore, and it compounds over the entire life of your catalogue.